Wisdom is not the product of schoolingbut the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

- Albert Einstein

Lifelong Learning and Self-Directed Learning

Gerhard Fischer and Leysia PalenSpring Semester 1999

March 15, 1999

Fischer / Palen, Spring 1999 2 Design, Learning and Collaboration

Great Interest in Learning Because:We are Living in a Different World

Richard Sennett: The Corrosion of Character: The PersonalConsequences of Work in the New Capitalism

Sennett explores the disorienting effects of the new capitalism. He reveals the vivid andilluminating contrast between two worlds of work: the vanished world of rigid, hierarchicalorganizations, where what mattered was a sense of personal character, and the bravenew world of corporate re-engineering, risk, flexibility, networking, and short-termteamwork, where what matters is being able to reinvent yourself on a dime.

In some ways the changes characterizing the new capitalism are positive; they make fora dynamic economy. But they can also be destructive, eroding the sense of sustainedpurpose, integrity of self, and trust in others that an earlier generation understood asessential to personal character. In this timely and essential essay, Sennett enables us tounderstand the social and political context for our contemporary confusions, and hesuggests how we need to re-imagine both community and individual character in order toconfront an economy based on the principle of "no long term."

learning should result in understanding, not mere performance- when we understand something, we understand it as an exemplar of a broader

conceptual principle or theory (A Private Universe video tape)- claim: acquired knowledge is most useful to a learner when it is discovered

through the learners own cognitive effort, for it is then related to and used inreference to what one has known before

a Chinese sayingI hear and I forget,I see and I remember,I do and I understand.

Fischer / Palen, Spring 1999 5 Design, Learning and Collaboration

Some Claims about Learning

people learn best when engrossed in the topic, motivated to seek out newknowledge and skills because they need them in order to solve the problem athand

real learning the way we learn is trying something, doing it and getting stuck.In order to learn, we really have to be stuck, and when were stuck we are readyfor the critical piece of information. The same piece of information that made noimpact at a lecture makes a dramatic impact when were ready for it.

basic skills- question: if most job-relevant knowledge must be learned on demand what

is the role of basic education?- what is the critical background knowledge which makes learning on

demand feasible?- question: do basic skills change their meaning under the influence of

technology?

Fischer / Palen, Spring 1999 6 Design, Learning and Collaboration

Different Approaches to Learning

concept definition strengths weaknesses media support

learning by being told

just-in-time learning

learning on demand

integration of workingand learning

self-directed learning

collaborative learning

organizationallearning

lifelong learning

Fischer / Palen, Spring 1999 7 Design, Learning and Collaboration

School Learning and Lifelong Learning

School Learning Lifelong Learning

emphasis basic skills education embedded inongoing work activities

potentialdrawbacks

decontextualized, notsituated

important concepts are notencountered

problems given constructed

new topics defined by curricula arise incidentally from worksituations

structure pedagogic or logicalstructure

work activity

roles expert-novice model reciprocal learning

teachers expound subject matter engage in work practice

mode instructionism(knowledge absorption)

constructionism(knowledge construction)

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Informal versus Formal Learning

Informal Learning Formal Learning

unstructured structured

a group or joint activity an individual activity

the goal is motivated from the learner'spoint of view

the goal is not well motivated from hestudent's point of view

the activity is captivating fun fun is not a relevant consideration

there are frequent flow experiences there are seldom any flow experiences

the activities are self-paced the activities are fixed, force-paced

the person has a choice of topic, timeand place

the topics are fixed, as are time andplace

the activities can be done throughout lifein many environments

the activities are primarily restricted toages 6-20+ in a schoolroom

discretionary forced

Fischer / Palen, Spring 1999 9 Design, Learning and Collaboration

Self-Directed Learning

learners set most of the goals, not the teacher or a computational system

the new knowledge to be learned should be relevant to the interests of thelearner and the task at hand